{"id":24016,"date":"2026-10-08T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/?p=24016"},"modified":"2026-10-08T08:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T12:03:24","slug":"exploratory-studies-celebrates-30-years-of-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/Q4\/exploratory-studies-celebrates-30-years-of-impact","title":{"rendered":"Exploratory Studies celebrates 30 years of impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 It\u2019s the age-old question for any college-bound student: \u201cWhat\u2019s your major?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirty years ago, Purdue University challenged the assumption that students must arrive at college with a clear academic and career path in mind. Instead of requiring students to immediately declare a major, Purdue launched a pilot program that gave them the support to explore. During these three decades, thousands of Boilermakers have found direction through Exploratory Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through the foundational EXPL 10100 (Academic and Career Planning) course, previously known as EDPS 10500, individualized advising and interest-based course schedules, students gain a deeper understanding of their interests and opportunities before selecting a major. During their time in the program, typically no more than four semesters, they have access to the same scholarships, study abroad programs and other opportunities available to students with declared majors, and they can further engage as program ambassadors, fellows or student government senators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cExploratory Studies helps Purdue students make informed decisions about their long-term goals, empowering them to move forward with purpose during their time at Purdue and long after graduation,\u201d said Haley Oliver-Jischke, senior vice provost for academic and student success. \u201cApproximately 90% of students remain in the major they choose, demonstrating the lasting impact of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History and evolution: \u2018We\u2019re all explorers\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Approved by Purdue\u2019s Educational Policy Committee in 1995, the Undergraduate Studies Program enrolled its first 212 students in fall 1996 under the direction of Richard Grace. By 1999, the Undergraduate Studies Program had demonstrated its value and earned permanent status with support from a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the next two decades, the program expanded to serve students who change majors and students who transfer while adding learning communities, enhanced academic support and career-planning resources. Academic and Career Planning also became a required course for all incoming students and was later redesigned through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/impact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Purdue\u2019s IMPACT initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The program entered a new era in 2013 when it was renamed Exploratory Studies to reflect its broader focus on student exploration. Under Linda Gregory\u2019s leadership beginning in 2017, the program continued to grow with an expanded curriculum, support services and engagement opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRebranding the program around the idea of exploration was really important. We\u2019re all explorers in some way throughout our careers, so I think embracing that mindset was a great milestone for us,\u201d said Colleen Banter, who became interim director following Gregory\u2019s retirement in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s next and the impact: \u2018A future that fits\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Exploratory Studies enrolls between 1,000 and 1,500 students annually and has guided nearly 15,000 Purdue graduates toward majors that best fit them. More than 96% of students report confidence in connecting their interests and strengths to academic and career decisions after completing the foundational course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behind those numbers are individual stories of transformation, students who arrive at Purdue unsure of their next steps and leave with a clearer path forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cExploratory Studies gave me the opportunity to truly reflect on where I could see myself in both university and early career placement,\u201d said senior Julian Vuong. \u201cThe individual nature of the program allowed me to think about what I wanted to get out of my education, and the collaborative nature of small group and class discussions allowed me to consider how others proceed through their own process of finding a future that fits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students like Vuong demonstrate why the program has remained a vital part of the Purdue experience for three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe value of exploration has never been greater than it is today. We aren\u2019t just helping students choose a major; we\u2019re helping them develop the skills to navigate an ever-changing future,\u201d Banter said. \u201cI want more people to understand the value of exploring in an intentional and proactive way. That\u2019s how students get the most out of what Purdue has to offer and prepare themselves for opportunities we can\u2019t even imagine yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Purdue University<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Purdue University is a research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the United States. More than 111,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. As a land-grant university committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue\u2019s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. \u2014 It\u2019s the age-old question for any college-bound student: \u201cWhat\u2019s your major?\u201d Thirty years ago, Purdue University challenged the assumption that students must arrive at college with a clear academic and career path in mind. Instead of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":23984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[359],"tags":[],"department":[],"source":[334],"purdue_today_topic":[92],"coauthors":[616],"class_list":["post-24016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","source-purdue-today","purdue_today_topic-faculty-staff-know"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24016"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24023,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24016\/revisions\/24023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24016"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=24016"},{"taxonomy":"source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/source?post=24016"},{"taxonomy":"purdue_today_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/purdue_today_topic?post=24016"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=24016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}